Track construction for railways.



, o. B. GRA-NT.

1 TRACK CONSTRUCTION FOB BAILWAYS.

APPLICATION FILED HAB. 25, 1907.

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Patented sept, 22,19% C together b v suitable tie rods.

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,OSCAR B. GRANT, or DAVENPORT, Iowa.

-Speccation of Letters Patent.

Patented sept.' 22, lees.

application filed March 25, 1907. Serial No. 364,332.

To all whom 'if vmay conf-ern;

Be it kncnn that I. Oso-m Bv. GRANT, a citizen of the I'nited States, residing at Davenport, in the county of Scott-and State of Iowa., have invented a certain` new and useful Improvement inT rack Construction for Railways, of which the following is a full, clear, concise. and exact description, referonce being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to track construction for railways, its object being to provide more improved and particularly more economical arrangement and construction.

Wooden ties are now almost universally used for supporting rails, but wood is constantly becoming-scarcer and its price con- These wooden ties are usually eight feet long, and there must consequently be a great deal of waste when ties are cut from a tree, as'nothing below eight feet can be utilized.

In accordance with my invention instead of using a single tie eight feet long, I use two ties, each one three feet long and one piece under each rail, the pieces being Connected Thus when a tree is cut up, there will be much less waste, as only pieces les than three feet in length would be wasted- A tree that for the old construction would yield three eight-foot ties would formy construction yieldeight three-foot ties which would take the place of four eight-foot ties. thus increasing the product from that tree vin the proportion of three to four or 335%,.and further the wasted end of that tree inigh make one or two more three-foot pieces which would still further increase its preise-tion. A given length of track Could, therefore, be provided with ties at a greatly rede` price and at the same time less wood would be used.

The exact arrangement of my invention will be best unde ood when described by referring to the accompanying drawing in which l Figure 1 is a plan view of a section of track; Fig. 2 is an end view; Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of s. tie plate and tie rod connection therewith; E 4 is an enlarged end view ofthe tie piste and rod shown in Fig. 3; Fig. `5 is a side view of the tie plate and rod shown in Fig. Z3, sind Fg. 6 is a plan view of a tie ilate.

'Ihe type of tie plate' I have shown Comprises the plate or body part 1 .through which are the sets of spike holes 2 vand 3, there beine' a ridge or shoulder 4 between theholes 2. iv t the other end of the plate is the lug 5 having` the vertical recesses A6 for receiving the tie rod 7. The innerend of the lug is cut away to form a pocket 8 for receiving the head 9 of the tie rod. Extending from the lower side of the plate are the wedges or teeth 1() arranged in an suitable manner for engaging in the woo( when the rail is spiked to the ties.

In Figs. land 2, 11 represents the ties or blocks arranged in a-linement. rail is to be applied, a tie plate is inserted thereunder on each tic block, but before the rails are brought to gage and spiked, the tie rods are dropped into the recesses v6 o f the opposite tie plates, and when the rail is then spread and brought to gave, the heads of t 1e tie rods will engage in the pockets 8 and will be locked against escape. The outer edge l2 of the rail base engages against the shoulders 4 on the plates, and the s ikes are then driven, as shown, through t 1e spike holes 2 and 3 and the rails will be securel held to gage and alinement. With thls shoulder arrangement on the plates, all four spikes assist in preventing the rail on either slde from moving outwardly, especially the outer rail on curves where the lateral pressure is inostlv on that rail and the tendency is for the rails to spread.

Where the full length ties are used, the practice is to have a quantity of ballast outside the ends of the ties to hold the ties from sliding or working out of place, espeeiall on curves, but with my arrangement the ba last iills in between the inner ends of the tie blocks, and this part of the ballast holds the track in alinement, and the ballast which underthe old construction is a )lied atl the outer ends of the ties is place( etween the inner ends of the ties. Ihe tie blocks also may either have a horizontal base-or an inclined base as shown in' Fig. 2. Vith the wedge sha ed arrangement there is better drainage, t ie ballast being packed hard under the tie blocks and water will quickly run down the incline, thus roducinv perfectdrainage which isa very t esirable ieature in track construction. The blocks may be evenly s aced on each side of the rail c-r either si e may be longer than the other, but preferably the outer end should be the long- Vhen the est, .as the support under that end is not so lifted so as to let the. shasnlder pass inwardlyunder the railsufli'ci'Lf-rest?v to disengage the head of the tie rod frsmiilhe pocket oi the tie.v l'late s0 it may be liftealriout of the recesses.

hen the part or parts:A may be replaced with new ones and the proceareversed in putting themlback in place.

vI teus provide impnamad track construe-y tion in which the alarmant of wood and iron necessary is reduced tis a minimum. The alinexnent of the railsaisvsecurely held by the inner end-of the shortY resting against the f' earth or ballast in ,theL @enter of the .roadbedl which, holds the other mail from moving outward, and the other shew-t ties hold the op o-` site rail from moving'aatvard, all of which) 1s accomplished by the: and tie plates coupled to ether by means of the tie rods and the s )1 es holding 'ilhe tie plates to the blocks. lhe tie redsg., tra course, could be made integral with the: 'tie plates, but the construction shown is;y yreferable, as-where the gage must be increased as on curves, it is merely necessary tofi wt longer tie rods.

I do not wish to be.' l ed to the exact arrangement and eons-tin'aeiion herein shown, as many modifications: nonld be made without departing from Ascope of the invention.

I claim as new andeaaire to secure byLet ters Patent:

1. In track eonstrnetaan for railways, the combination of twof raars of tie blocks, one row under each of the .of the track, ballast under the tie blocks and between the inner ends thereof, a tief, late on each block under the rail thereon, 'nes passing through each tie plate and eng ing the rail thereon to secure the tie plate md rail to the block, tie rods connectingta., er the tie plates on the lower faces of the blocks being inined Ydownwardly and outwardly so that water will Vflow away from -the road bevi 2. In track construction for railways, the combination of two rows of short tie blocks, one row nndereach of the rails of the track, tie'plates under the rails having spike holes for receiving the spikes which secure the track to the tie blocks, lugs enz-tending from each tie plate and forming a gmove, tie rods for engaging in the grooves er' opposite tie plates, heads on the tie rods, and locking extensions on the lunfs for engaging with the heads to lock the tle rods to the. plates.

3. In track construction for railways, the combination of two rows of short tie blocks, one row under each of the rails er' the track, metallic tie plates on each ble-ek under the rails havino spike holes through which pass spikes yhic i engage the rails, a set of vertical lugs on each tie plate forming a groove, alocking pocket formed at the inner end of each set of lugs, and a tie rod connecting together opposite tie plates, said tie rod engaging at its ends in the grooves and having heads for engafring in the locking pockets t@ lock the tie rods in place.

4. In track construction for railways, the combination of two rows of tie bloc-ks, one

vrow under each of the rails of tile track, the

upper faces of the tie blocks being in a horizontal plane, rails secured to blocks, tie rods connecting together the and blocks, the lower faces of the blocks being inclined downwardly and outwardly, and ballast under and between the blocks.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 19th day of Marek-l. D., 1907.

OSCAR B. GRANT.

Witnesses:

H. H. SCHMIDT, F. S. WErsBRooK. 

